Tuesday's letters: Voter suppression

Published: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, September 16, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.

To the editor: A recent column by Susan Hanley Lane was staggeringly deceitful. I, too, am a New Jersey transplant. Ms. Lane chose not to tell you some critical data about her “home”:

Jersey City is the home of voter suppression. In this case, it is suppression by a political party — the Democrats. And this suppression has been going on since the start of the 20th century.

In the majority of major cities/urban areas, Democratic machines maneuver voting rolls all the time; the dead vote in perpetuity.

Yes, there are Republican areas that perform the same political service, but no one has a leg up on the Democrats; they are good at it, they are proud of it, and they never apologize for it — ever!

Redistricting is voter suppression? Since North Carolina was controlled by Democrats for multiple decades, am I to assume that Democratic voter suppression is the “history” of my adopted state? Well done, North Carolina. You are following in the proud Democratic tradition of my corrupt birthplace, New Jersey.

Since any act of voter corruption negates my vote, people like Ms. Lane are supporting voter suppression. She should be ashamed.

Jim Griffin

Hendersonville

A major asset

To the editor: The Johnson Farm at 3346 Haywood Road, a gift to the Henderson County Schools from Vernon and Leander Johnson, is a major asset of our county. It contains about 15 acres with many old buildings, antique farm equipment, animals and walking trails.

Ingrid Bergman does a great job managing the farm and entertaining visitors. Many volunteers donate their time to keep the farm looking nice. Gifts of money help to feed the farm animals and make necessary repairs and are much appreciated.

If you are an employee or retiree from General Electric, your gift of $25 up to $50,000 will be matched by the GE Foundation Matching Gifts Program after you report the gift. You can report your gift by calling 1-800-305-0669, or if you have a GE SSO ID and password, you can access the GE Foundation website and report your gift there.

Mail your gift check to the Henderson County Education Foundation, 21 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville, N.C., 28793, or drop it by the Johnson Farm. I contribute every year and on several occasions have taken them a gift load of hay for the donkeys and sheep.

Mitchell Osteen

Zirconia

Free tax clinic

To the editor: The Henderson County AARP Foundation Free Tax Clinic is looking for new volunteers. We would like to give a very big thanks to Lou Parris for printing our request in his Mountains to Molehills column. Since many people were probably on vacation, it’s always a good idea to repeat our request.

Our free tax clinic did more than 4,000 tax returns last year. This is the largest number in North Carolina and the fourth largest in the nation. Our clients are mostly the elderly and low-income families living in Henderson County.

The program is looking for new volunteers to be trained as tax aides and client facilitators. Tax aides prepare and check the actual returns on computers, and client facilitators meet and greet our clients. Main qualifications are an interest in helping serve some of the needs of our county as well as an interest in working with people.

Training classes will take place during the month of January. These classes include seminars as well as computer training.

For those interested in learning more about our volunteer program, there will be a meeting in the Kaplan Auditorium of the downtown Henderson County Public Library at 10 a.m. Oct. 29.

Tui Weinman

Hendersonville

Misplaced praise

To the editor: It is strange to me that Henderson County would bestow rewards and praise on the manufacturing of a product that brings destruction to home, workplace and highway, such as beer and other alcohol. Just a thought.

<p>To the editor: A recent column by Susan Hanley Lane was staggeringly deceitful. I, too, am a New Jersey transplant. Ms. Lane chose not to tell you some critical data about her home:</p><p>Jersey City is the home of voter suppression. In this case, it is suppression by a political party  the Democrats. And this suppression has been going on since the start of the 20th century.</p><p>In the majority of major cities/urban areas, Democratic machines maneuver voting rolls all the time; the dead vote in perpetuity.</p><p>Yes, there are Republican areas that perform the same political service, but no one has a leg up on the Democrats; they are good at it, they are proud of it, and they never apologize for it  ever!</p><p>Redistricting is voter suppression? Since North Carolina was controlled by Democrats for multiple decades, am I to assume that Democratic voter suppression is the history of my adopted state? Well done, North Carolina. You are following in the proud Democratic tradition of my corrupt birthplace, New Jersey.</p><p>Since any act of voter corruption negates my vote, people like Ms. Lane are supporting voter suppression. She should be ashamed.</p><p><em>Jim Griffin</em></p><p><em>Hendersonville</em></p><h3>A major asset</h3>
<p>To the editor: The Johnson Farm at 3346 Haywood Road, a gift to the Henderson County Schools from Vernon and Leander Johnson, is a major asset of our county. It contains about 15 acres with many old buildings, antique farm equipment, animals and walking trails.</p><p>Ingrid Bergman does a great job managing the farm and entertaining visitors. Many volunteers donate their time to keep the farm looking nice. Gifts of money help to feed the farm animals and make necessary repairs and are much appreciated.</p><p>If you are an employee or retiree from General Electric, your gift of $25 up to $50,000 will be matched by the GE Foundation Matching Gifts Program after you report the gift. You can report your gift by calling 1-800-305-0669, or if you have a GE SSO ID and password, you can access the GE Foundation website and report your gift there.</p><p>Mail your gift check to the Henderson County Education Foundation, 21 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville, N.C., 28793, or drop it by the Johnson Farm. I contribute every year and on several occasions have taken them a gift load of hay for the donkeys and sheep.</p><p><em>Mitchell Osteen</em></p><p><em>Zirconia</em></p><h3>Free tax clinic</h3>
<p>To the editor: The Henderson County AARP Foundation Free Tax Clinic is looking for new volunteers. We would like to give a very big thanks to Lou Parris for printing our request in his Mountains to Molehills column. Since many people were probably on vacation, it’s always a good idea to repeat our request.</p><p>Our free tax clinic did more than 4,000 tax returns last year. This is the largest number in North Carolina and the fourth largest in the nation. Our clients are mostly the elderly and low-income families living in Henderson County.</p><p>The program is looking for new volunteers to be trained as tax aides and client facilitators. Tax aides prepare and check the actual returns on computers, and client facilitators meet and greet our clients. Main qualifications are an interest in helping serve some of the needs of our county as well as an interest in working with people.</p><p>Training classes will take place during the month of January. These classes include seminars as well as computer training.</p><p>For those interested in learning more about our volunteer program, there will be a meeting in the Kaplan Auditorium of the downtown Henderson County Public Library at 10 a.m. Oct. 29.</p><p><em>Tui Weinman</em></p><p><em>Hendersonville</em></p><h3>Misplaced praise</h3>
<p>To the editor: It is strange to me that Henderson County would bestow rewards and praise on the manufacturing of a product that brings destruction to home, workplace and highway, such as beer and other alcohol. Just a thought.</p><p><em>Eddie Freeman</em></p><p><em>Hendersonville</em></p>